MIT reverses autism in mice

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have found that suppressing a particular enzyme has reversed some symptoms of autism and mental retardation in mice.

An enzyme is a protein that triggers a chemical reaction, and this one, called p21-activated kinase (PAK), affects neural connections in the brain. Suppressing it can counteract the effects of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), the leading cause of retardation and a genetic autism, MIT said Sunday.

"Our study suggests that inhibiting a certain enzyme in the brain could be an effective therapy for countering the debilitating symptoms of FXS in children, and possibly in autistic kids as well," the study's co-author Mansuo L. Hayashi, a former MIT postdoctoral fellow now working at Merck Research Laboratories, said in a statement. Several chemical compounds today already are known to inhibit PAK's activity.